The Epidemiology of Hip and Major Osteoporotic Fractures in a Dutch Population of Community-Dwelling Elderly: Implications for the Dutch FRAX® Algorithm

BACKGROUND: Incidence rates of non-hip major osteoporotic fractures (MOF) remain poorly characterized in the Netherlands. The Dutch FRAX® algorithm, which predicts 10-year probabilities of hip fracture and MOF (first of hip, humerus, forearm, clinical vertebral), therefore incorporates imputed MOF rates. Swedish incidence rate ratios for hip fracture to MOF (Malmo 1987–1996) were used to perform this imputation. However, equality of these ratios between countries is uncertain and recent evidence is scarce. Aims were to estimate incidence rates of hip fracture and MOF and to compare observed MOF rates to those predicted by the imputation method for the Netherlands. METHODS: Using hospitalisation and general practitioner records from the Dutch PHARMO Database Network (2002–2011) we calculated age-and-sex-specific and age-standardized incidence rates (IRs) of hip and other MOFs (humerus, forearm, clinical vertebral) and as used in FRAX®. Observed MOF rates were compared to those predicted among community-dwelling individuals ≥50 years by the standardized incidence ratio (SIR; 95% CI). RESULTS: Age-standardized IRs (per 10,000 person-years) of MOF among men and women ≥50 years were 25.9 and 77.0, respectively. These numbers were 9.3 and 24.0 for hip fracture. Among women 55–84 years, observed MOF rates were significantly higher than predicted (SIR ranged between 1.12–1.50, depending on age). In men, the imputation method performed reasonable. CONCLUSION: Observed MOF incidence was higher than predicted for community-dwelling women over a wide age-range, while it agreed reasonable for men. As miscalibration may influence treatment decisions, there is a need for confirmation of results in another data source. Until then, the Dutch FRAX® output should be interpreted with caution.